Dive Brief:
- President Donald Trump’s former personal driver has voluntarily dropped a suit alleging unpaid overtime and entered private arbitration, according to various media reports.
- Noel Cintron claimed in the lawsuit that he had not been paid for 3,300 hours of overtime over the past six years, according to Reuters. Cintron alleges that the unpaid overtime totaled about $178,000 at $54.09 an hour and that the amount sought in the lawsuit would have been higher if not for a statute of limitations. Cintron said he averaged about 50 to 55 hours a week and drove for the Trump family for more than 25 years, until the Secret Service took over in 2016.
- The Trump Organization reportedly said in a statement that Cintron was paid in accordance with the law. Trump is not a defendant in the lawsuit, Reuters says.
Dive Insight:
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employers pay workers time and-one-half for all hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek, unless the employee qualifies for an exemption.
And while Trump may emerge from these claims unscathed, other employers often aren't so lucky. A company's reputation can affect whether candidates apply for and accept jobs. In fact, 69% of job seekers say they won't apply to a company with a bad reputation, even if they're currently unemployed. In addition, workers are twice as likely to quit their jobs after observing compliance violations, according to a new Gartner survey.
Employers with less-than-stellar reputations can, however, take steps to remedy the situation, experts say. When a company receives unwanted attention, transparency is key, Greg Moran, President and CEO of OutMatch, previously told HR Dive. Be open and honest if a candidate brings up a negative online review, for example. Address questions raised by job candidates directly and discuss the steps the company is taking to address the situation, Moran said.
Second, it's important to own your reputation. Many companies do an inadequate job of this, especially when it comes to reviews found on Glassdoor and other platforms. The best defense is a good offense, says Chris Carlson, president at Sales Talent. He suggests that companies encourage star employees to share their experiences on these websites. But don't make the mistake of requesting that all your employees start writing positive reviews just after a few scathing ones; that won't go unnoticed to candidates.
Exit interviews also can be useful, allowing departing employees to get things off their chest before they turn to a public forum, and alerting HR to any issues that previously went unmentioned.